The Protectors
by germanshepherd123
Summary: As the need for balance arises, the protectors are called back to bring peace throughout the land. What if these protectors are the famous slayers Buffy and Faith? And what if Faith is certain evil queen's long last sister? What happens when Emma brakes the curse and Regina sees Faith for the first time in over 28 years after believing she was dead?
1. Before it all

_A long time ago in an enchanted land, there was a war. A war for power, dark vs light, the war raged on for many years before finally two of the truest of heart came and channeled the power. One for light and one for dark, they were called the Protectors of Magic. They were the strongest of any magical being in the land and it their sacred duty to keep balance between the two forces since neither could live without each other. As the years went on balance spread throughout the land, till their was only happiness. But as the need for balance died so did the protectors. No longer protected by the magic that keeps them healthy, they began to age. The protectors, knowing that one day another war would put the balance in jeopardy, they buried their swords in a stone hidden in a lost gave awaiting for the day when the need for balance arises and the new protectors are born._

Now a years later the protectors are called forth again, as another war Dark vs Light begins. And it all starts with a snowflake and a queen.


	2. Buffy and Faith

Faith turns and looks over at her girlfriend and smiles  
"What?" Buffy asks cautiously knowing that look  
"Wanna race up the hill?"  
"Race?"  
"Yeah you know to see whose faster" Faith says making Buffy roll her eyes  
"I know what it means Faith" she says, making the brunette smirk  
"Okay so...do you wanna?" she asks like a child hyped on two much candy, Buffy smiles at her girlfriends excitement

"Alright on 3" Buffy says "1...2..." before she can finish counting Faith has already taken on yelling 3 behind her all the while laughing. Buffy rolls her eyes before pushing her horse into a gallop, quickly catching up with the brunette. Both girls grin at each other, as they push their horses to go faster. neither one of them getting up to far ahead of other without the other one catching up.

"So tie?" Faith asks as they come to a stop at the top of the hill, both horses breathing heavily from the exertion  
"Only since your afraid of losing then yes. Its a tie." Buffy says with a smirk, Faith scoffs in mock anger as she jumps off her horse  
"I was just saving you the humiliation of losing" she says as she holds out her hand for Buffy to take.

"Yeah alright." she says as she takes the offered hand and allows Faith to help her off her hose. Faith grins as she walks over to her horse and unties a blanket from the saddle. "So what are we doing here?" Buffy asks as she watches Faith lay down the blanket onto the grass

"Having a picnic" Faith says as she pulls a basket out of her saddle bag  
"I can see that" Buffy says as she sits down on the blanket, Faith joining her "Now seriously whats the occasion?" Buffy asks as Faith begins to pull out all sorts of food. Faith sighs as she stops and turns toward her girlfriend

"Buffy...I've never loved someone as much as I love you, and I can't imagine my life without you." she says nervously  
"Oh my god...is this what I think it is?" Buffy says in shock, Faith gives her a shaky smile before continuing

"We have had so many...amazing memories together and I want to continue creating memories with you for the rest of our lives. Because when I'm with you I feel complete like we are meant to be together. I want to grow old with you B. So..." Faith says as she gets onto one knee and pulls a wooden box out of her back pocket. "Buffy will you marry me?" she asks, Buffy stares at Faith in shock as tears come into her eyes. The blonde opens her mouth to say something but is cut off by another voice.

"Awe isn't this sweet" a voice says, Buffy and Faith quickly jump up and into fighting stance, their swords drawn.  
"Mother." Faith says in a way of greeting  
"Oh don't let me interrupt please continue." Cora says as she walks over to the couple  
"What are you doing here?" Faith asks neither girl lowering their weapons  
"Cant a mother visit her daughter?" Cora asks, when she gets no response she continues "Oh fine..." she says before sending a fire ball at girls, Faith manages to dodge the fireball but Buffy takes the hit.

"Buffy! You okay?" Faith asks worriedly, Buffy nods unable to speak since the ball knocked the wind out of her when it hit her armor. Faith growls as she stands up and goes to attack her mother but is thrown back by a blast of magic. Faith looks up to see Rumplestilskin standing by her mother

"Why are you doing this?" Buffy says as her and Faith stand up, their swords clenched in their hands  
"Your in the way" Cora says  
"In the way of what?" Buffy asks confused  
"Regina." Faith asks her voice filled with anger "What did you do!?"

"Regina's friend, Daniel was it?" Cora says "He died recently. Tragic really."  
"No. No!" Faith says "How could you do this to her!" Faith says, she takes a step forward but with a wave of his hand Ruplestilskin freezes them in place.

"Relax dearie." he says with a smile, Faith and Buffy glare at them  
"What do you gain in this?" Buffy asks the dark one, Rumple laughs  
"Me? Why with you out of the way. I can finally teach Regina in the ways of magic" he says with a grin  
"She will never turn dark" Faith growls as she tries to brake free of the spell, feeling it already weaken from her own powers.

"Oh but she will." the dark one says with a chuckle "Now then. I suggest we get on with it." he says before producing blue vial into his hand and handing it to Cora who smashes it on the ground.

"What are you doing?" Faith yells as she watches a portal form and begin to grow  
"We are sending you away" Cora says  
"Where?" Buffy asks, making Faith's mother girl evilly  
"To a place where there are no happy endings" she says "But dont worry you two wont remember each other" Faith yells as she struggles against the magic holding her in place.

"Faith!" Buffy yells feeling the portal beginning to suck them in "I love you" she says  
"I love you too." Faith says, the two girls stare at each other before Buffy gets sucked in "Buffy!" Faith screams before turning towards her mother and the dark one "I'm going to kill you" she says

"Good Luck." Cora says, just as Faith breaks out of her bonds the portal pulls her in before closing in on itself. As soon as the portal closes completely Cora turns away "I must leave. I have to give Regina the bad news" she says before disappearing in a cloud of purple smoke. Rumple goes to leave but stops when he sees something shiny in the grass, bending down he sees that its a ring. The dark one giggles to himself before disappearing the same way Cora did, taking the ring with him. Neither one of them seeing Buffy and Faith's swords glowing green before disappearing with a flash.


	3. Real World

"They going at it again?" Rona asks as she joins the other slayers to watch the the argument between Buffy and Faith  
"Yup." Kennedy says  
"What is it about this time?" she asks knowing that these are weekly arguments  
"I think its about last nights patrol..." Kennedy says

"You could of gotten them all killed!" Buffy yells  
"But they didn't! They're still here B!" Faith yells back  
"Yeah all expect of for Brenda whose in the infirmary because of your carelessness"  
"My carelessness?" Faith says in disbelief "You were the one who wanted to charge in there guns blazing!"  
"Yeah and if you would of just killed the guard like I told you to then we could of easily snuck in."

"I couldn't! I didn't have a clear shot" Faith says  
"You know this is exactly like you"  
"Excuse me!?"  
"You always do this." Buffy says "Every time I decide something you always have to argue with me. And when you don't get your way. You bail."  
"Me? Your the one who throws a temper tantrum every time someone goes against one of your orders." Faith says "Because god forbid someone else have an opinion."

"I keep people safe"  
"Yeah then why is it that every time you go on patrol more girls die with you then they do with me." Faith says, the whole room goes silent with that knowing that its serious now.

"At least I didn't go on a murder spree" Buffy says, Faith chuckles darkly  
"Really your going to use that?" Faith says "It was years ago Buffy. Let it go!" she says before turning to walk away  
"Yeah. Yeah walk away just like you do with everything else." Buffy says making Faith stop and turn around  
"What exactly is that supposed to mean?"

"It means that anytime things get to hard Faith. You leave." Buffy says "Just like you did with Rob-" Buffy's sentence is cut off by a fist to the face. The whole room gasps in shock, Buffy wipes her split lip before punching Faith back. The two slayers stare at each other, hate evident in their eyes, before Faith rushes at Buffy tackling her to the ground before raining punches on her. Buffy rolls them over so she's on top and gets a few punches in before Faith pushes her off.

The two slayer stand up and get into fighting stance before attacking each other, dodging and landing blows.

"We need to stop them." Kennedy says "Come on." she says before her and a few other girls race in to try and brake the fight up only to get thrown back. Faith and Buffy continue fighting

"That all you got B" Faith says breathlessly with a small chuckle  
"Just getting started _F_ " Buffy says before launching herself at the brunette, Faith hits Buffy in the face and barely dodges a kick. The two continue to fight, the mini slayers trying to unsuccessfully break them up but to no avail. Faith knocks Buffy's feet out from under her making her fall to the floor, before she gloat Buffy knocks her down also. The two slayers sit up a take the knife they both keep hidden in their boots and press it against each others throats.

"Getting that deja vu yet B?" Faith says with a smirk  
"I'll do it this time." Buffy says as she presses the blade harder into the brunettes neck making Faith do the same to her.

"What the hell is going on!?" A voice says, Buffy's eyes briefly flicker over to where Willow and Giles have just entered  
"Something that I should of done a long time ago." Buffy says only to have Willow magically blast them apart.

"What the hell Red?" Faith groans as she stands up, she looks over at Buffy whose doing the same. The two slayers glare at each other and are about to charge at one another when a blast of energy wipes through them.

"Buffy?" Faith says confused  
"Faith" Buffy says in a sigh of relief before running towards the brunette and hugging her. "I thought I'd never see you again" she says as tears begin to fall down her face, the both of them remembering everything that has happened.

"So did I" Faith says before leaning down and kissing her, the slayers so involved with reuniting forgot about the crowd of girls around them staring at them in both shock and confusion. They break apart when they hear someone clear their throat

"ummm" Willow says "What the hell just happened!?" she yells, Buffy and Faith look at each other before coming out of the embrace  
"Its kind of a long story Will" Buffy says  
"Okay well...then at least tell me how you and Faith went from almost killing each other to a makeup session."  
"I ummm...I think we should do this in private." Faith says seeing all the people  
"Yes well...lets head to the conference room" Giles says as he takes off his glasses begins to clean them as he walks towards the conference room. Buffy and Faith clasp hands as they follow the former Liberian and red head witch towards the conference room.

_TIME SKIP_

"So let me get this straight..." Xander says as he paces the room, having joined them a half hour ago "You and Faith are not from this reality. Your from a fantasy land where every story I have ever read as a kid is true?"

"Yes" Buffy says tiredly having explained this to them already  
"And your a couple?" Dawn asks also having joined them with Xander  
"Yup" Faith says  
"This isn't some spell is it?" Dawn asks turning towards Willow whose been staring at the two slayers  
"No." she says "This is real."  
"So your not even my sister" Dawn says tiredly  
"No. No Dawn you will always be my sister" Buffy says with a smile "Back in the enchanted forest I never had a family...but if I did. I wouldn't change a thing." she says, Dawn smiles as she leans over and hugs her sister.

"So what are we going to do?" Faith asks  
"We will work on finding a spell to send you two back tomorrow...as for tonight lets get some rest." Giles says as he puts his glasses back on, the scoobies nod before walking out of the conference room leaving Buffy and Faith alone.

"So your room or mine?" Buffy asks, Faith smirks at the blonde before following her out of the conference room and upstairs.

As soon as the door closes in Buffy's room, Faith's lips are on hers  
"I love you" Buffy says in between kisses  
"I love you to" Faith says as she focuses on the blondes neck "God I missed this." she says, Buffy chuckles as as she guides Faith away from her neck and to her lips. Buffy moves them until the back of Faith's legs hit the bed, before she gently lays her down. Their lips staying connected the whole time. Buffy pulls back and removes her shirt, throwing somewhere in the room

"Your beautiful" Faith murmurs as she kisses the blonde in a searing hot kiss  
"Your wearing to much" Buffy murmurs, Faith smirks before leaning back and removing her own shirt. She leans back down to continue kissing her girlfriend, but pulls back when she feels Buffy's resistance. Looking down she sees Buffy frozen with her eyes glued on the brunette's stomach

"I did this" Buffy whispers as she gently reaches her hand out to trace the scar that was left there from the fight on the balcony all those years ago.  
"Hey." Faith says gently as she takes Buffy's hand and kisses it "Its okay...I'm okay." she says as she moves to sit next to the blonde.

"I put you in a coma" Buffy says as her eyes fill with tears  
"No. No that wasn't you." Faith says "It wasn't you. It was the alternate you...You had no control of what you were doing"  
"You could of died!" Buffy yells as she stands up from where Faith was holding her  
"But I didn't. Im right here B"  
"This is so messed up..."  
"I guess this is what my mother wanted." Faith says "I can't believe she hated me so much to do this"  
"Faith..." Buffy says sadly

"She made me kill people Buffy" Faith says as the events from their lives hit them full force "Innocent people. Who didn't deserve what they got." Buffy sighs as she sits down next to her girlfriend

"What are we going to do now?"  
"We're going to find a way to go home." Faith says "And hopefully fix whatever the hell my mother started."  
"You don't think Regina went dark do you?" Buffy asks, Faith sighs sadly  
"I hope not." she says, The girls stay up late into the night talking about everything that has happened over the 28 years before finally falling asleep in each others arms. 


	4. Protectors

Buffy and Faith walk into the conference room to see the rest of the scoobies already there.  
"Good morning." Buffy says "You guys find anything yet?"  
"Not yet" Giles says as he takes his glasses off and begins to clean them "Could you tell us more about this land you are from? It could help us narrow down where we are supposed to be looking."

"Its called the enchanted forest and every fairytale character that you have ever read about is real." Faith says  
"I see" Giles says as he puts his glasses down "Do you have any ideas as to a way transport you back to your realm?" Buffy and Faith both look at each other thinking for anything that could be useful.

"I got it." Buffy says excitedly "Our swords" she says, making Faith grin  
"Your swords?" Dawn says confused  
"You guys had swords? What were you knights?" Kennedy asks jokingly

"Well yeah" Faith says making Kennedy look at her dumfounded  
"How will your swords help us get you back?" Willow asks  
"Back in out realm we were called the protectors" Buffy explains "We protected all magic and kept balance between dark and light."

"We are the only ones able to wield our swords" Faith says "I'd imagine that when we were thrown into the portal they traveled here with us. If we can find them then we can return home."

"Okay. How do we find them?" Willow asks  
"Simple. Locator spell." Buffy says with a shrug  
"I dont think a locator spell will work on trying to find a sword"

"It will if you use our blood." Faith says making them all look at her "Our swords are connected to us through blood magic that is why we are the only ones able to wield the sword."

"Okay..." Willow says "I'll just go get my stuff I need for the spell." she was before walking out

A few minutes later Willow comes in carrying everything that she'll need for the spell "Alright. Who wants to go first?" she asks, the two slayers look at each other before Faith walks over and holds out her hand. Willow hands her a knife and watches as Faith guides it across her hand drawing blood. Willow takes Faiths hand and holds it over a map and begins to chant in latin.

They all watch in awe as Faith's blood travels throughout the map before stopping at a point and glowing  
"Okay...Faith's is in Cleveland's cemetery" Willow says  
"Thats only about 10 minutes from here." Dawn says as Buffy walks up and does the same thing Faith did. Willow starts the chant again and looks down to see that Buffy's sword is with Faith's.

"Soon whose ready for field trip?" Faith asks

_TIME SKIP_

"Are we sure its okay to be doing this in broad daylight?" Kennedy asks as she follows Buffy and Faith to the crypt where their swords are.  
"If someone sees us we'll just say that we're visiting our dead relative or something" Faith says as she looks at the map before she keeps walking.  
"How far is it anyway?" Kennedy complains  
"Its just up ahead." Buffy says before running into Faith's back who stopped short  
"This is it." Faith says as she folds up the map and sticks it in her back pocket before walking in.

"Are you sure this is the right place?" Kennedy asks when they see the crypt empty except for two caskets, Faith ignores her as she walks farther into the crypt.

"You feel that?" Buffy asks, Faith nods feeling something pulling them towards the caskets. They both walk over to one of the casket before pushing the lid off to reveal a sword laying there, untouched. Faith and Buffy look at each other grinning, before they reach in and grab their swords. As soon as they make contact with the sword it begins to glow, Faith's black while Buffy's white. Kennedy watches in amazement as the swords pulse as if they are alive, she watches as the light from the swords begin to fade into Buffy and Faith's arm leaving a mark.

"Holy shit." Kennedy says in shock, Faith smiles as she twirls her sword around experimentally  
"How ya feeling B?" Faith asks as she looks over at her girlfriend to see her doing the same thing with her own sword.

"Pretty good." Buffy says "Now lets get out of here." she says before taking Faiths hand.  
"You okay Kenn?" Faith asks seeing that she hasn't moved, Kennedy nods mutely before turning around and walking out of the crypt. The older slayers chuckle at the girls reaction before following her out.

_BACK AT SLAYER CENTRAL_

Buffy and Faith lay their swords down on the table as soon as they walk back into the conference room  
"Woah" Xancer says in awe as he walks over to look at them "These are yours?"  
"Yup" Faith says as she sits back into her chair, Buffy sitting down next to her

"Now what do we do?" Dawn asks  
"Your magic here works differently than ours." Buffy says "So we are virtually powerless in the magic department" she says

"Could a transportation spell work?" Faith asks  
"Maybe? But I can't say it'll work for sure since I have no idea where you guys are heading" Willow says "But I wouldn't suggest it. For all we know you guys could end up in a dimension without shrimp." she says, They all sit there quietly trying to think of a way to travel back to their realm.

"If I had an idea of the potion that your mother used to send you here I may be able to reverse it and send you back." Willow says, Faith lens forward and grabs her sword looking it over

"How much of the potion would you need?" Faith asks  
"A drop" Willow says, Faith smiles  
"Great thats exactly how much I have" she says as she holds up her sword to show a dry speck of blu potion that was left there when her mother broke the vail.

"Some of the potion must of gotten on your sword when the vial broke!" Buffy says excitedly  
"Looks like we have a chance. What'd ya say red?" Faith asks looking at the red head hopefully

"I say we got some research to do." she says

_TIME SKIP_

Hours later after endless amounts of research all of the scoobies past out somewhere in the room, except for Willow whose still trying to find a way to reverse the spell. Xander asleep in his chair with his arms and legs spread out. Kennedy asleep on her arms with a book open in front of her. Giles asleep with his face in a book. Dawn laying down on the floor with books surrounding her. And finally Faith whose asleep in Buffy's lap whose also asleep.

"I got it!" Willow yells making everyone jump awake  
"What?" Xander says tiredly  
"I figured it out!" she yells "I know how to reverse the spell!"

"Thats great!" Buffy says now fully awake as she runs and hugs her friend  
"So what do we do?" Faith asks  
"All I have to do is remake the potion and say a few phrases"

"We're going home." Buffy says with a smile as she hugs her girlfriend "We're going home." she says again, Faith smiles and nods as she leans down and kisses the blonde. They pull apart when someone clears their throat.

"So how long will it take?" Giles asks "To make the potion?"  
"About an hour?" Willow guesses already gathering the ingredients she'll need.  
"We'll meet back here in an hour." Giles says, they all nod their heads before leaving the conference room all of them wondering whats going to happen when the two head slayers have returned home.

_AN HOUR LATER:_

Buffy and Faith walk into the conference room to see everyone already waiting for them  
"I'm going to miss you" Buffy says as she hugs Dawn "You will always be my sister" she says, Dawn nods her head not even trying to hide her tears. Faith watches as Buffy says goodbye to her friends not being as close to them as Buffy is, she knows that this is the blonde's family and how hard it must be for her to say goodbye.

"You ready?" Faith asks as Buffy returns to her side, the blonde nods. They both turn towards Willow, gripping their swords tightly so they don't lose them, Willow takes a deep breath as she raises the vail and smashes it on the ground before she begins chanting. The slayers watch as the potion begins to wrap itself around them until it completely covers them. The slayers disappear in a flash of bright light.

_IN THE ENCHANTED FOREST:_

In the middle of the enchanted forest a flash of white light appears, as fast as it has appears its gone leaving two girls in its place.

"Uh" Faith groans as she rolls over "B you okay?" she asks as she shakily stands up and helps up the blonde  
"Yeah. Yeah I'm good." she says, the two girls look around in confusion seeing what used to be a forest filled with people now empty.  
"What the hell happened?" Faith asks as they look around

They jump when they hear a loud bang followed by a roar. The two girls look at each other before calling on their swords, once they're swords are in their hands their marks begin to glow as an armor covers their bodies. Hearing someone yelling they take off towards the noise, hoping to figure out what exactly is happening.


	5. Enchanted

The ogre exits the forest, sniffing the air for it's prey. He bends down in front of a blonde haired woman, smacking the gun out of her hands. Just as the ogre was about to pick up the blonde someone whistles.

"Back away form my daughter!" another woman with dark hair yells before shooting an arrow at the monster. The ogre roars in pain when the arrow hits its arm "Shit." the woman curses as she reloads her bow. Just as she was about to release another arrow two figure run out of the forest, one dressed in black armor and the other dressed in white. The Black figure jumps up and onto the Jorge's back, while the one in white cuts the monster's heels forcing him to stay on the ground. As the white distracts the ogre it gives the black enough time to drive its sword into the Jorge's neck.

The white tackles the woman with dark hair out of the way as the ogre falls to the ground dead.  
"Who are you?" the blonde says as she walks over to stand with the dark haired woman as the white stands next to the black.  
"My names Buffy" the one in white says as she removes her mask as one dressed in black does the same "This is Faith."

"Someone want to tell us what the hell is going on?" Faith asks, she feels something sharp poke her in the back and someone say  
"Who are you?" Faith rolls her eyes and quickly turns around and disarms the woman  
"Names Faith.." she says, her sword pointing at the woman's face. Faith smirks before sheathing her sword

"You guys got lucky." Buffy says "Ogre's are attracted by noise."  
"We know." The dark haired woman they saved says "I'm Snow, this is my daughter Emma. She's the one who shot the gun."  
"Daughter?" Faith says confused as she looks between the two woman seeing the closeness in age

"Its a...long story" the blonde, Emma says  
"Do you know what happened to this land?" Buffy asks "Why is it overrun my ogres and where are all the people?"  
"You dont know?" a girl says from her place by the warrior who attacked Faith "I'm Aurora. This is Mulan" she says motioning to the warrior.

"An evil queen cast a curse on our land." Mulan says "Many of the people disappeared and went to another realm."  
"Thats where we are trying to get back to." Emma says  
"How do you not know about this?" Snow asks, Buffy and Faith look at each other  
"My mother cast us to another realm. We just recently woke up and came here." Faith says

"That sounds around the time that you broke the curse" Snow says turning to the blonde  
"Do you mind if we accompany you on your journey?" Buffy asks "We are trying to find someone and we think they might be back in your realm."  
"Who are you trying to find?" Snow asks  
"My sister." Faith says, the group of woman all look around when they hear a fainted roar

"We should go." Mulan says "There could be more ogres near by" she says before taking Aurora's arm and pulling her into the woods, Snow and Emma behind them and Faith and Buffy trailing up from the rear.

_TIME SKIP_

"We're getting close." Snow says  
"Aurora, You've gotta keep up." Milan says seeing the princess trailing behind  
"Sorry but I'm not exactly dressed for the woods." she says "Its cold out here."

"Then maybe you should've listened to me, and stayed back" Mulan says  
"Here." Emma says as she takes her jacket off and hands it to the princess  
"But I tried to kill your friend."  
"Actually she's my mom." Emma says "I have a feeling she can take care of herself. And I get it. You're not the only one whose been screwing up lately." she says before walking away, leaving Aurora to stare down at the jacket confused.

"What kind of corset is this?" she says to herself before running to catch up with the others when she hears Mulan call out for them.

"Is that it?" Emma asks  
"Yeah" Snow says sadly "Thats our home."  
"Or it was." Faith mutters making Buffy elbow her in the side as they all stare out looking at whats left of the castle.

"Oh my god" Snow says as they all follow her through the castle and up to the nursery  
"I recognize this from Henery's book." Emma says as she looks around the room  
"Come. We'll stand watch at the gate." Mulan says before leaving with Aurora

"Yeah...we'll come with you." Buffy says as she grabs Faiths arm and leads her out of the room knowing that they'll need a moment.  
"Faith" Buffy whisper yells "I don't think its a good idea to snoop through another person's home."

"No one lives here anymore B" Faith says as she looks through a broken down cupboard "Sides whose gonna know anyway?" she says, both girls jump when they hear the sound of fighting. Unsheathing their swords they follow the sound until they are back at the nursery.

The two girls enter the room to see Snow magically pinned up on the wall and an Emma laying on the ground with a woman standing over her with a fireball. Faith runs and jumps in front of Emma shielding her from the fire ball with her sword.

"Hello Mother" Faith says as she flips up into standing position, her sword out in front of her

"Faith." Cora says in disgust "Its been a long time. I'm surprised you even survived this long." she says, Faith growls as she charges at her mother. Cora turns around and looks at Snow. "We aren't done." she says before disagreeing in a cloud of purple smoke just as Faith's sword cuts through her.

"Dammit!" Faith curses as she sheaths her weapon  
"You okay?" Emma asks as she walks over to her mother whose staring at the burning wardrobe  
"You saved me." Snow says  
"Yeah well...where is she?"  
"Gone." Faith says angrily from her spot where Buffy is trying to calm her down  
"So's our ride home." Emma says as she looks at the wardrobe

"Lancelot was one of the most noble knights I ever knew." Snow says  
"How could I be so blind?" Mulan says angrily "How could I not see that it was Cora?"  
"Well to be fair, the whole shape-shifting thing threw me too." Emma says

"Plus she's very manipulative." Faith adds  
"What are we going to tell the people on the island?"  
"The truth-that Lancelot was cut down by a terrible villain" Snow says "He died an honorable death."  
"Cora's still out there. We need to find her." Mulan says "We need to defend whats left of the kingdom."

"Whose going to lead us? You?" Aurora asks  
"No." Mulan says "Her." she says looking at Snow  
"I'm honored, but Emma and I still have to find a way back to Storybrooke."  
"We'll help you." the warrior says "We'll find a way, wont we?"  
"Yes" Aurora says "Perhaps It'll help me channel my anger."

"What about you two?" Emma says looking over to where Buffy and Faith are sitting down, the two girls look at each other  
"Yeah..." Faith says with a sigh as she stands up "I'm sure Regina has gone crazy by now" Faith says  
"You have no idea" Emma mutters under her breath, Faith glares at the blonde having heard her. She opens her mouth to say something but stops when she feels Buffy grab her arm, looking over at her girlfriend she sees her shake her head no.

"Come." Mulan says before leading everyone out of the nursery. Just as they exit the castle Faith stops short, making Buffy bump into her  
"Hey...you okay?" Buffy asks seeing the worry in her girlfriend's eyes. Faith sighs and looks away from the window sill where the nursery is

"Yeah its just..." she says feeling like somethings wrong "Its nothing. I'm fine." Buffy gives her an unsure look "Seriously B. I'm fine" Buffy looks at the brunette for a moment before leaning up and giving her a peck on the lips.

"Lets catch up with the others" she says before walking away, Faith glances up at the window before following her girlfriend. None of them knowing that the source of the brunette's uneasiness was because of Cora being inside the castle collecting the ashes of the wardrobe.


	6. Meeting Hook

Buffy and Faith walk side by side as they follow behind Aurora and Mulan, Emma and Snow trailing behind them. The mother and daughter having been whispering back and forth with each other as they look at the two slayers, the girls in question having been ignoring them the last half hour no matter how annoying they are.

"Hey…Faith right?" Emma asks as she jogs up to the brunette's side while Snow gets onto the other side of Buffy.

"I see you finally decided to stop whispering about us." Faith says in a way of greeting making Buffy smirk.

"Yea uh…sorry…so umm…your Regina's sister?" the savior asks

"Yea. You got a problem with that?" she asks sparring her a sideways glance making the savior hastily back up what she was saying.

"No! No. I have no problem." Emma says hastily

"I remember you." Snow says in realization "You two were the protectors when I was a little girl! You were there when Regina rescued me from my runaway horse."

"I was." Faith confirms

"But that was so long ago? How do you look the same?" the former queen asks, making both slayers sigh.

"Our protector magic prevents us from aging as long as there is a need for balance." Faith starts "Although whatever curse my mother put us in seemed to stop the aging as well."

"Her curse changed us, changed us back into children and given to different families." Buffy adds "She made it so we didn't expect a thing, and the only way to break it was true loves kiss."

"But to make sure that didn't happen she made it so if B and I ever met we would instantly hate each other." Faith says bitterly "The closer we got to one another and more we disliked each other."

"Hence the reason why we both almost killed one another." Buffy finishes

"Damn and I though I had a hard life." Emma says

"You don't know the half of it." Faith mutters under her breath, they continue to walk in uncomfortable silence, well uncomfortable for Snow and Emma anyway, before the Savior breaks it.

"I should uh warn you…about Regina." She says making both girls turn to look at her "its just that …she may not be the same person she was when you left." She says hesitantly, Faith stops short and turns to look at the blonde.

"What _exactly_ do you mean by that?" she asks her hand gripping the handle of her sword tightly. Emma glances at the sword nervously before looking back into the brunettes glaring eyes.

"What she means is." Snow interrupts making Faith turn to look at her "After Daniel died and you…disappeared. It became to much for Regina and she snapped."

"What happened?" Buffy asks, afraid she might not want to know.

"She learned magic…dark magic. She blamed me for Daniel's death so she made it her life's mission to kill me." Snow explains "In doing this she cast a curse and send everyone to a town called Storybrooke in Maine so no one could get their happy ending." She says "The curse was broken a few days ago by Emma."

"Then how did you end up here?" Buffy asks seeing the Faith was still taking it all in

"We were sucked into a portal by Jefferson's hat." Emma says "Gold sent a wraith to kill Regina we opened a portal using the hat to try and send it back but ended up getting sucked along with it."

"That god damn ugly, serpent like, rat!" Faith yells in anger as she takes out her sword and throws it into a tree with enough force that it went through the tree up to the hilt. "Regina. Is she alright?" Faith asks

"Yeah…last time we saw her." Emma says her eyes wide as she stares at the sword. Faith growls and mumbles a few curses under her breath as she walks away to retrieve her sword. "They sure have the same temperament." She mutters

Buffy sighs as she looks at her hot headed girlfriend before turning to the others

"You guys go ahead. We'll catch up." She says before leaving to stop Faith from cutting the tree down in a rage. Emma and Snow nod before going to catch up with Aurora and Mulan.

A little while later Buffy and Faith finally join them, but choose to lag behind, Faith looking much calmer than she did before but you can still see the anger hidden in her eyes. Emma walks by Snow's side while she and Aurora talk about what they are going to say to the other villagers. They all stop when Mulan raises her hand, they all stare in shock when they see what awaits them at camp. Dead bodied littered all over the ground.

"Oh my god." Emma says in shock

"This can't be." Mulan says as they search through the wreckage and bodies for any survivors "Our land. We were protected here, hidden. How did the ogres find us?"

"Ogres didn't do this." Buffy says as she stands up from her crouched position where she was examining a body. "Cora did. Their hearts have been ripped out."

"She's right." Snow says "This is her magic, twisted and evil. We have to stop her."

"No shit Sherlock." Faith mumbles angrily under her breath making Buffy send her a disapproving look.

"Too late." Mulan says "She killed them all."

"No, we have to stop her before she hurts anyone else." Snow says

"Hey." Emma calls, getting everyone attention "Hey. Look." She says pointing to the a hand that is moving around underneath a few bodies.

"There's someone under there." Aurora says as she rushes over along with everyone else as they help unbury the man.

"Please." The man begs "Please help me."

"Its okay. You're safe now. We wont hurt you." Snow says

"Thank you." The man says

Buffy and Faith stand to the side as they watch Aurora and Snow help the man.

"How do you feel about this?" Faith asks

"I think that Cora left him alive for a reason…and knowing her its usually not good." Buffy says suspiciously.

"Good. Because I don't trust him." Faith says plainly as she glares at the man.

"We should go over there." Buffy says "See what we can find out." She says, the two slayers walk over to the table where the man is just as Emma and Mulan walk back.

"I can't thank you enough for your kindness." He says "Fortune, it seems, has seen fit to show me favor." He says as he sips his drink.

"An island full of corpses. You're the only one to escape." Emma states "How exactly did that happen?"

"She attacked at night, slaughtered everyone in one fell swoop." He says "When she started ripping out people's hearts, I hid under the bodies of those who had been killed. Pretended to be dead myself." He says sadly "Mercifully, the ruse worked."

"So much for fortune favoring the brave." Faith says

"It was all I could do to survive." He says, Emma stares at him for a moment before leaning down to his level and speaking softly.

"I'm going to let you in on a little secret. I'm pretty good at knowing when someone is lying to me." Emma says

"I'm telling you the truth." He says, Emma gives him a small smile as he leans away

"We should leave here. In case Cora decides to come back." Mulan says

"We should start searching for a new portal back to Storybrooke." Snow says "I only got about five minutes with my husband. Not to mention my grandson."

"You have a grandson?" the man asks

"Long story." Snow says

"Well, I know this land well. I can guide you." He says, just as he finishes the sentence Emma has him by the throat with a knife.

"You're not gonna guide us anywhere until you tell us who you really are." She says, after a few minutes of pleading they finally had enough and tied him to a tree to try and get answers out of him.

"I already told you. I'm just a blacksmith." He pleads

"Sure you are." Emma says before whistling loudly "You want to talk to us? Or you want to talk to them?" she asks as you hear growling from ogres in the distance. "Come on." Emma says as the growling gets louder and you can hear the sound of trees breaking.

"What?" the man yells "You-You can't just leave me here like this!" everyone keeps walking except for Aurora who turns and looks at him.

"What if he's telling the truth?" Aurora asks

"He's not." Faith says dryly

"Good for you!" the ma yells stopping everyone in their place "You bested me. I can count that amount of people who've done that on one hand."

"That supposed to be funny?" Emma asks as they start walking back

"Who are you?" Buffy asks

"Killian Jones, but most people have taken to call me by my more colorful moniker, Hook."

"Hook." Snow says recognizing the name

"Check my satchel." He says, Snow does.

"As in Captain Hooke?" Emma asks in disbelief

"Ah so you've heard of me." Hook says smugly, just as Snow pulls a hook out of his bag and the ogres start to get louder.

"You better hurry up. They're getting closer." Emma says "So unless you wanna be dinner you better start talking."

"Cora wanted me to gain your trust so I could learn everything there is to know about your Storybrooke." He says "She didn't want any surprises when she finally got over there."

"She can't get there. We destroyed the wardrobe." Snow says

"Ah but the enchantment remains." Hook says "Cora gathered the ashes. She's gonna use them to open up a portal." He says, they all turn as the growling grows nearer "Now if you'll kindly cut me loose."

"No. We should leave him here to die to pay for all the lives that he took." Mulan protests

"That was Cora, not me." Hook says

"Lets go." Emma says as she begins to walk away

"Wait. Wait!" Hook yells "You need me alive."

"Why?" Faith asks bored

"Because we both want the same thing, to get back to your land." He says looking at Emma

"You would say anything to save yourself." Emma says "Why are we supposed to believe you now?"

"I arranged for transport with Cora, but seeing how resourceful you are, I'll offer you the same deal." Hook says "I'll help you if you promise to take me along."

"How are you going to help us get home?" Snow asks

"The ashes will open a portal, but to find your land, she needs more." Hook explains "There's an enchanted compass Cora seeks it. I'll help you obtain it before she does."

"So Cora wont make it to Storybrooke, and we'll be one step closer to getting home." Emma says before looking at Snow

"Sounds to good to be true." Buffy says

"There's only one way to find out." Hook says, a ogre roars sounding a few feet away from them

"You tell me one thing" Emma says as she holds a knife to Hooks neck "And whatever you say I better believe it. Why does Captain Hook want to go to Storybrooke?"

"To exact revenge on the man who took my hand, Rumplestiltskin." He says angrily, hearing the name Buffy and Faith tense remembering how he helped send them away from one another. Emma stares at him for a moment before cutting him loose. They all take off into the woods just as the ogres break through the tree line.

"Up ahead. We'll find the compass just over the ridge." Hook says from where he's leading them with his hands tied.

"Do you get the feeling he's leading us exactly where Cora wants us, that this whole thing's a trap?" Emma asks

"Its definitely a trap." Buffy says from where she and Faith are waling behind her and Snow.

"As long a we know they're trying to play us, we can-" Emma says

"Stay one step ahead of them." Snow finishes

"Exactly." Emma says

"Let me guess." Buffy says as they all come to a stop looking at where a bean stock grows from the ground up into the sky "The compass is up there?"

"Oh yeah." Hook says

"So how do we…get to it?" Emma asks

"Its not the climb you need to worry about." Hook says "It's the giant at the top." He says

"Well…" Faith says as she takes the first step forward, everyone follows behind "I always wanted to see a giant."


End file.
